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Sep 5, 2003 Issue
Subscribe now to BrainyZine to stay on top of the latest news on child brain development and early child development
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~ B R A I N Y - Z I N E ~
"Learn How to Nurture A Smarter Kid"
Volume #1 Issue #22 ISSN: 0219-7642 Sep 05, 2003
Andrew Loh, Publisher,
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By subscription only! You are receiving this newsletter
because you requested a subscription.
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S :
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(1) ~ EDITORIAL ~
(2) ~ ARTICLES - Ten Tips for Your Toddler's Education
How to Use Your To-Do's To Boost Baby's IQ ~
(3) ~ BRAINY PRODUCT ~
(4) ~ LATEST BRAINY NEWS ~
(5) ~ WHAT'S IN THE NEXT ISSUE ~
(6) ~ CONTACT US - Contact and Subscriber Information ~
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E D I T O R I A L - W e l c o m e !
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Hi Everyone,
How are you doing? It has been two weeks since I talked to you. I hope everything is fine with you. Have you been very busy lately on your job, family, children ...? Don't even have times for yourself? If so, I would like to share with you a story:
"There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him. After searching high and low among the hay for a long while, he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of kids playing outside the barn. He promised them that the person who found it would be rewarded with five dollars.
Hearing this, the group of kids hurried inside the barn, flipped through and around the entire stack of hay but still could not find the watch.
Just when the farmer was about to give up looking for his watch, a little boy went up to him and asked to be given another chance. The farmer looked at him and thought, "Why not? After all, this kid looks sincere enough." So the farmer sent the little boy back in the barn.
After a while the little boy came out with the watch in his hand! The farmer was both happy and surprised and so he asked the boy how he succeeded where the rest had failed.
The boy replied, "I did nothing but sit on the ground and listen. In the silence, I heard the ticking of the watch and just looked for it in that direction."
Very often, we allow the noise of the world to drown out our inner voices, our intuition, the language of our hearts. Via a dizzying array of flashy commercials, glossy images of the rich and famous, and confident strides of the beautiful and thin, the world tells us repeatedly how being ourselves isn't acceptable or sufficient. It reminds us how we will be happy only when our bodies look a certain way, when we are wealthy, successful, respected, or famous, when we marry a particular person, or when we own a certain car or phone.
As a result, we often emulate others, without trusting and loving ourselves enough to make our own decisions. We rush blindly towards false and fanciful goals like money, a desirable partner who doesn't truly love us, the favorable opinion of others, fame or material possessions. These ultimately do not give us lasting happiness or meaning.
Finally, we come to realize that, in life, we should learn to distance ourselves from the din of the world and quiet ourselves down. To learn to listen to our inner voice, for it will point us in the right direction to find true joy, love and peace."
Take care!
Andrew Loh
Publisher/Editor of the BrainyZine
andrew @ brainy-child.com
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A R T I C L E S
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~ Ten Tips for Jump-Starting Your Toddler's Education ~
by Dr. Clare Albright, Psychologist and Professional Coach
Toddlers have a greater ability to acquire new skills and
information than children who are 5, 6, or 7 years old. Research
indicates that introducing reading, language, and math skills in
the toddler years may make school success come more easily to
your child for years to come.
1. "Narrate" your child's activities so that they will know that they have your focused attention. This will support them in language and thinking development.
2. Choose children's books with large print words and extremely clear pictures. This will help your child to understand what they are seeing and to learn to read words. Many children's books have very small words and very complicated pictures.
3. Purchase foreign language cassettes and videos. It is much easier for toddlers to pick up other languages at this age than it will be later on.
4. Purchase computer software for toddlers. The software will often employ keyboard skills, since it is difficult for many children to use a mouse before the age of two and a half.
5. Buy alphabet letters for bathtub use and make a new word every time your child is in the bathtub. Your child will begin to make the connection between spoken and written language.
6. Use repetition. Some parents get frustrated when a child wants a book read three times in a row, but this is an essential part of how children process information.
7. Buy alphabet magnet letters to play with on the refrigerator. Spell out new words for your child every week.
8. Read to your child every day. Read with emotional expression, as if you were in a dramatic play.
9. Remember that your child's physical education is directly linked to his academic education. Research shows that brain development is directly linked to physical activity, such as crawling before the age of one. If you and your toddler engage frequently in different kinds of physical activities, this may enhance brain development. Examples: galloping, running, rolling, wheelbarrow, etc.
10. Call the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential at (800) 344-MOTHER to purchase early learning materials. They sell books, videos, cassettes, and learning materials to teach your toddler how to read, how to do math, and how to gain encyclopedic knowledge.
~ How to Use Your To-Do's To Boost Baby's IQ ~
by Dorothy P. Dougherty MA, CCC-SLP
Chances are you want to provide a wonderful environment for your
baby to learn and grow. But your life is busy. You have a young child -- a child who needs to be bathed, dressed, fed, and nurtured. And when you're not caring for your little one, perhaps there's your housework, shopping, cooking, and laundry. Luckily, all children learn to talk. It's something that comes naturally, right? Not always. Some children talk late. Some children need speech therapy. And all children need help from their parents to reach their highest potential.
Beginning shortly after birth, a baby's brain begins to undergo magnificent changes. It will actually double in weight and use twice as much energy as an adult brain as trillions of connections or pathways develop between cells.
These pathways will enable your baby to learn and think. Babies simply do not receive enough genes from their mother and father to make all of these pure, un-programmed connections work. Scientists now know that what a child sees, hears, touches, and feels during the early years of life strengthens and shapes these brain pathways.
Many of these pathways involve language skills. Research has shown that children's development of language is crucial to their ability to learn and think, and has a significant impact on their overall educational experience. In addition, it is vital if they are to understand other people and express their own thoughts and feelings, which, in turn, play a role in the development of good relationships and positive self-esteem. Children who are good listeners are usually good readers. Children who are slow to speak are often slow to read. As you can see, a parent's interest and interaction with their child from the moment of birth is
essential as they set the groundwork for future learning.
Instead of cursing your to do's for taking you away from your child, you can turn them into special times of sharing. Daily life affords parents hundreds of opportunities to enhance their child's language skills. The activities in your daily routine can be your tools- your errands around town, your trips to the supermarket, and your chores around the home. The suggestions below will do more then stimulate your child's language. They help guide the loving, close family bonds that human's desire.
Talk, Talk, Talk. All children listen to learn. The more words they hear, the greater their vocabulary, and the greater their IQ. One researcher from Chicago found that two-year-old children of talkative mothers said twice as many words as the children of mothers who silently cared for their babies.
However, only live language, not television, helps children develop language skills. Experts feel this is because children need to hear language in relation to what is happening around them or it just becomes noise. It must be delivered by an engaged human being, and the child must focus on the speaker and environment.
Even though your baby may be surrounded by conversation from birth on, it is important that you talk directly to him long before he can talk back to you.
Before a child says his first word, he must hear that word many times and understand its meaning. The natural way for your baby to learn the meanings of words is to listen to you talk in relation to the events going on around you. In this manner, he will learn to associate the words you say with the actions, objects, or thoughts you describe. Just because your baby isn't talking yet, it doesn't mean he is not listening and learning.
Talking can and should be a part of everything you and your child do together. Talk to your child about what you are seeing, doing, feeling, and touching as your cook dinner, vacuum the carpet, or sort and fold laundry.
Describe your actions as you make the bed, set the table, or simply pour your child a drink. Talk about the shiny tinfoil and let him see his reflection as you pack sandwiches for lunch. As you dress your child, name his body parts, talk about kinds of clothes and where they go.
If possible, let your child accompany you to the supermarket, post office, or on other errands around town. For safety reasons, you must keep your eye on your child every second, so why not engage his attention with the sound of your voice. At the supermarket, most likely, your child will be sitting in the shopping cart facing you. Think about it: Would you like to sit in a chair facing a familiar adult who had nothing to say? As your push your cart through the produce section, you can find
every color, texture, and shape imaginable to describe to your child. As your fill your cart with food, you can fill your child's mind with hundreds of words and phrases. To a young child, the whole world is new. Even the most routine activities can be an exciting and learning experience for him.
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Dorothy P. Dougherty, MA, CCC-SLP, is a Speech/Language Pathologist
and author of "How to Talk to Your Baby: A Guide to Maximizing Your
Child's Language And Learning Skills." For 24 years, Ms. Dougherty
has worked with children and adults in school, clinical, and private
settings. In her book, she shows busy parents how to enhance a young child's language skills as they go about daily life activities.
_________________________________________________________ B R A I N Y P R O D U C T
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~ Seven Times Smarter: 50 Activities, Games, and Projects to Develop
the Seven Intelligences of Your Child ~
* By Laurel J. Schmidt
* Average Customer Rating: 5 Stars
* Buy new: $10.50
A terrific title full of hands-on learning games, Seven Times Smarter will provide parents and homeschoolers with all sorts of interesting activities that bring kids new skills and a better appreciation of the different ways of learning.
_________________________________________________________ L A T E S T B R A I N Y N E W S
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~ How to boost babies' brain power ~
More than 360,000 babies are born every day on the planet. Which one of them will grow up to be a future Shakespeare, find a cure for cancer or perhaps even prove Einstein wrong?
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N E X T I S S U E
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Next issue, you can find out the impact of bilingualism on overall
language development and academic success.
If you would like to review our past issues, click here:
http://brainy-child.com/newsletter.shtml
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C O N T A C T A N D S U B S C R I B E I N F O
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Andrew Loh - andrew @ brainy-child.com
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T H E E N D
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